Pentagon assessing the possibility of terrorist networks reconstituting in Afghanistan
Soldiers pull security at the airport. (AP/Shekib Rahmani)
The Taliban is returning Afghanistan’s political status to the state it was in before the Afghanistan War began. With history repeating itself, Afghanistan is anticipated to attract terrorist groups driven from Iraq, Syria, and from other locations in the near future. Both international and regional terrorist groups may find Afghanistan as a location to base in, to train in, and to coordinate terrorist attacks. However, this potential outcome has taken backseat, in the media, to the events related to the evacuation.
From The Washington Examiner:
Those concerns have been overshadowed by the urgent need to evacuate diplomats and American citizens from the country in recent days, as well as the thousands of Afghan nationals facing retaliation for working with the U.S. government or other U.S. entities. A crowd of Afghan civilians desperate to leave with Americans rushed the planes leaving Hamid Karzai International Airport on Sunday, and footage emerged appearing to show people falling to their deaths from a departing C-17.
“All the images coming out are of concern and troubling, and we want to do this in a safe and efficient and as orderly a way as possible,” Kirby said. “And that is why right now, our troops are focused on making a safe and secure environment at the airport and clearing people in the crowds off of the tarmac and the flight line so that flights can resume. That’s our focus right now.”
The Taliban takeover has put more pressure on U.S. officials to evacuate Afghan nationals who worked with the government but whose visa applications remain unprocessed. U.S. officials began flying the interpreters to Fort Lee, Virginia, in late July, but Austin gave the green light this week to prepare two other bases in the United States.
“Our aim at these three facilities would be over time, three to four weeks from now, be able to provide support for up to 22,000 at-risk individuals,” Kirby said. “We will not have that capacity immediately. It will take some time to build it out.”
In the meantime, U.S. troops are still streaming into the Kabul airport to provide security. About 2,500 troops are present at the airport now, Kirby said, and that figure is expected to reach 3,000 by Tuesday.
The Washington Examiner has more on this story.
Category: Afghanistan
Gee…..YA THNK?
If anyone in WDC/The Swamp thinks the Taliban are NOT getting help right now from the Chinese….
I’d say the 5-sided puzzle palace kind of missed the deadline on this.
Just WTF have the university trained geniuses in the Pentagram been doing for the past 20 years?
Answer: nothing.
Biden is an easy target on this, but frankly, this is the result of a GO/FO, appointee, and executive community that has failed the US.
This started long ago and now the wages are due.
At a minimum, SECDEF, Service Secretaries, all 3 and 4 star GO/FO and the SECSTATE and all State Dept executives should be fired.
Today.
There are plenty of toxic idiots waiting for those jobs.
The President, VP, and most of the Senate and House should all resign as well. After all, the President may set policy, but the House and Senate have been in charge of “oversight” and budget. Apparently, no one in DC has been doing their jobs.
Petraeus is all over FOX News blaming Biden for his string of failures. It is easy to pile on to the current administration with the bad optics, but if Petraeus and McChrystal had moral courage, they would publicly own their contribution to the failure in Iraq and Afghanistan. They produced Power Points and reports to feed talking points and not to reflect reality in Iraq and Afghanistan.
SurfGW,
Petraeus has angst in his pants.
At what age are these generals expected to
have some (self) control over their 2 brains?
I.m not as concerned about the reconstituting of terrorist networks there as I am about the terrorists that are already HERE and the numbers that will be slipping thru thru cracks in this “refugee evacuation”.
As was pointed out in the other thread (and as I noticed too) most of the “refugees” on that C-17 looked like healthy young men that should have been on the ground, with a weapon in their hand, defending their country or trying to protect their women and children.
Fido got fornicated in this whole cluster.
That’s fuster cluck, KOB.
And it’s looking more and more like Justin Trudeau is going to help ‘those numbers slip through the cracks’ as much as he and his sycophants can. Dismay? No. Angry. Two-fisted-pissed!!!
“terrorists that are already HERE”
You mean the ones falsely elected last year?
Are they going to dig fighting positions or stay out in the open for no apparent GD reason?
Its not like you’re surrounded by well-honed fighters who’ve 40+ years of high intensity conflict to perfect their craft.
Oh, and they’re VERY well Armed. Thanks Joe!
Good point. Where are the sandbags, mortars, and artillery?
Well armed and fanatically motivated. Do not underestimate them.
How do you dig in to concrete and pavement? How do you supply water and chow ? Where are the shitters and piss tubes? What about sand bags? Do we have an answer to a tank attack? This is looking more and more like a Dien Ben Phu situation. Here at home we are being over run on the southern border while in WDC we are being cut off at the knees.
I’m sure that will take precedence somewhere below the monthly Sensitivity Training and briefings on Sensitivity to Transgender Dance Fanatics.
I think the first thing the newly arrived refugees will get, after an MRE, is their WOKE America briefings.
And afterwards they’ll likely go off in search of materiel to build carbombs.
Imagine how confusing it will be for our new Afghan immigrants having to learn all these new pronouns so that they don’t get imprisoned for offending some militantly woke American with the wrong one…
Vaccines, trans issues, and SHARP. Let’s not forget our priorities. We’re fighting the culture wars, first.
Actual warfighting and planning may resume, once all the eunuchs have recovered from their surgeries, unless it’s a DONSA.
This.
With all of this excitement and the Biden sponsored Taliban Liberation Moment, I wonder if John Fonda-Kerry has a thrill running up his leg.
That was Chris “Tingles” Matthews.
Sleepy Joe’s top adviser.
Naw, Gropey Joe and his band of ho’s aren’t even as prescient as my fave Marine private. Even Gomer saw this as a likelihood. In 1971 I perceived that the South Vietnamese would not prevail against the NVA/VC once we all left the RVN. But at least the ARVN fought to the bitter end to the best of their ability.
“I figure the odds be 50-50.”
Apologies to Frank Zappa.
Instead of being back at the WH w/ his national security team assembled, Sleepy Creepy ‘Got my butt wiped’ Joey is still at Camp David. Hiding Biden leading from behind in the basement. The most powerful man in the world? The leader of the free world? The world laughs. Truly sad.
And, according to his NSA, he hasn’t spoken to ANY world leaders about this.
YIKES!
Oh, and I also just read that Germany is cancelling $250 million in aid to A-stan. Good! Now they can start paying their NATO bill!
There appears to be some grapevine noise about conflict between Jill Biden & Joey’s handlers. The staffers want Bite-me back at the WH, but Jill is insisting Potato stays put at Camp David. Another Edith Wilson situation?
The whole damned mess of them is in panic/CYA mode right now!
I saw an article that said Blinken was out talking to allied countries about maintaining “security in the region” or some such shit. Weakest, most useless SoS in decades is apparently the point man on this.
It takes time to program the animatron known by many as Dementia Joe. Last time they tried for “off the cuff” remarks he stated “I just wiped my butt!”.
He has to listen to his handlers and only respond to those on the “media insider” list with their pre-selected/approved friendly questions.
He can’t even be bothered to pretend to be in control of the situation. Just go to the WH for fuck’s sake. Sit there. Take some photos in briefing rooms looking interested. You don’t have to actually do anything, just be present.
I can’t believe what I’m watching here. I mean I expect Biden to be wrong, make the worst decisions possible, and generally fuck everything up, but this is basic politics 101-level stuff.
Its a gift. I hope this will FKING WAKE UP the masses that still live under the illusion that ANYDAMNTHING that Washington DC in relevant.
They are in it for themselves and their lapdogs.
Trillions gone from; stupid wars, bunk spending, money printing, ‘infrastructure’, ‘social justice’, etc etc etc etc etc
fk them
typos… in my defense, I’m full of cheese steak and beers.
Mmmmmmm, Cheese Steak,…
Saturated fat high…
I’ll pay for this tmw but that’s a future-me problem.
Fk that guy.
Meanwhile AMERICAN CITIZENS are being denied transportation out of Afghanistan, this would never have happened under Donald Trump! I sadly predict that we are about to see a mess like the Iranian Hostage Crisis only tenfold worse because Biden only wants to sit in Camp David and drool on the table.
600+ cowardly souls of foreign origin on OUR fking MILITARY BIRD while Americans are flapping in the wind.
FK YOU JOE!
You OWN this.
Meanwhile our Resident Idiot, Major Moonbat himself from UC Berzerkely still considers Biden superior to Donald trump while Biden sits in a chair drooling in Camp David, just like the legend of Nero playing his fiddle while Rome burned.
Well, Turd ‘Joey Bag o’ Donuts’ Ferguson has a (maybe more) B-52 enroute to AFG.
Maybe he’s in the bunker JIC things get….tense(r).
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae5885
Here she is, the ‘Wham Bam II’.
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/7211933
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1960.html
Go get you some!
I’m sure there are many private contractors still in country. I hope that there are a few of their companies willing to tell State to pound sand and pull their own Perot-EDS operations.
There’d better be. To spend all that money equipping and training mercs* to leave them for dead just to have them E&E their asses out of a third world s*hole to come back stateside and cut off your fking head would be a… unwise business move.
*its a common term, not a critique. ‘One team, one fight’ and all that.
Don’t care for MSNBC, but this video is amazing. It’s almost 11 mins long, but I watched all the way through.
Well, Mr. Zeller, if you looked those people in the eye and said you would take care of them, then it’s on you. Not me. You and your fellow nurturers created that expectation, now it’s up to *you* to fulfill it.
Myself, I would have told them I was here to help them help themselves, and I would do the best I can, but that in the end it was their responsibility. Afghanistan is, after all, their country, not mine.
Good luck with that attitude in winning over the local populace of our next foreign misadventure, especially with this indelible stain on our national honor.
Perhaps reputation is a better choice of words as our “honor” seems to be nonexistent…
Hey now, the Harris Administration says “America is back” to our allies all over the world.
Biden declares ‘America is back’ in welcome words to allies
And again just a week ago.
Harris to promote ‘America is back’ message in Singapore and Vietnam
Maybe a different approach is indicated, since we seem to have succeeded so well with this one in A’stan.
What do you mean by “winning over the local populace”? We seem to have won them over to the idea that the US is responsible for their well being and safety, but I don’t think that’s awfully useful.
“… with this indelible stain…”
I’m not worried. The world seems to have gotten over our “indelible stain” in Vietnam quite handily. As long as we provide money and protection local populaces (and especially the bosses) seems quite willing to disregard past embarrassments. At least until we turn off the freebies.
.9 or higher.
(but you know that when you asked the question; gotta start somewhere
…
The Philippines are gone. Are they coming south….)
In other news researchers have discovered that rain contains water droplets that make the surfaces on the ground wet.
Recent studies have also confirmed that without occluding overcasts, the sky is indeed blue.
And my field expediant weather indicater is a large rock outside my front door. When the rock is wet, it’s raining and when the rock is dry, it’s not raining.
Well they’ve done such a bang up job of analyzing and predicting the events of the past week, I can’t wait to hear their final assessment here.
Basically, at this point, I’m just going to go with the opposite of whatever they say. That more or less seems to be the best bet given their recent track history.
Spokesperson: “No chance Al Qaeda comes back. This Administration has prepared for this”
Translation: “Terror training camps are being setup as we speak. We have no idea what we’re doing.”
Yes, from Guantanamo Bay.
This could be a VG/TAH story all by itself.
Ugh. And Double Ugh.
[Reports: Gitmo ‘Graduates,’
Jihadist Traded for Bowe Bergdahl on Taliban Victory Team]
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2021/08/17/gitmo-graduates-jihadist-traded-bowe-bergdahl-taliban-victory-team/
Why the USA didn’t just palletize the Gitmo terrorists
and air drop them from a C-17 off the coast of Peru or Chile,
I’ll never understand.
From GHWBush to Obama,
all things “humanitarian” have come at a great cost,
to Americans, and American allies in other countries.
No sh1t, Sherlocks! What was your first clue?
I’ll “What is 100%?” for $1000, Alex!
We have as a nation a very long track record of fucking over our “Allies” in 3rd world countries. We dumped the montagnards with out apologies, tried to help the south Vietnam unsuccessfully, set the Kurds up for failure twice once with SoDamn Insane, and once with Turkey.
If I was a local I would be very suspicious of any aid provided to my people.
It looks like we out the regimes enemies by helping them and then cut them off and leave them twisting in the wind as we bail.
Since the Marshal Plan, South Korea is about the only ally we haven’t left hanging in the wind.